Idioms and Phrases around Winter

By Jennie Parker

This past weekend in Atlanta was one of the snowiest in years; we got around two inches! My kids, who are too young to remember playing in the snow a couple of years ago, donned their winter coats and mittens and attempted snowmen and snowball fights. It was nothing like the snowy Indiana winters I remember, but it was magical, nonetheless.

And it got me thinking about winter idioms. In the dead of winter, I'm often bundled up in a sweater and wool socks, cozying up by the fire with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and a book. Here are some more idioms and phrases to get you through winter:

1. blanket of snow - describes a layer of snow which hides what is underneath it.  A blanket of snow covered the ground.
2. to break the ice - to do or say something to get a conversation going when people meet for the first time. On the first day of class, I told a joke to break the ice. (Sometimes, planned activities used to break the ice, such as conversation games, are called ice-breakers).
3. to bundle up - to dress warmly for cold weather. I bundled the children up before they went outside.
4. to chill out - to relax. I don't feel like going out tonight. Let's just chill out at home. Or, used as a command when someone is too hyper, anxious, or active, Chill out!
5. to give someone the cold shoulder - to intentionally ignore someone or treat the person unkindly. After the argument we'd had, Margie gave me the cold shoulder at school.
6. cold snap - a sudden, brief period of cold weather. After a mild winter, we had a cold snap in early spring.
7. cold turkey - refers to suddenly quitting something, usually a drug or alcohol, without medication or gradual reduction. On January 1, she quit smoking cold turkey.
8. to cozy up with - to feel snug, warm, or comfortable with something or someone. I'm going to cozy up with a book next to the fire.
9. dead of winter - the middle of winter, "when nature is without charm" (Washington Irving). They lost electricity in the dead of winter.
10. to put (something) on ice - to postpone or do nothing about an idea or plan for a period of time. She put her plans to open a new business on ice when the pandemic started.
11. snowball effect - describes a situation in which something that starts out small gets bigger and bigger. It could describe something that leads to either positive or negative consequences. The teachers' concerns had a snowball effect on the community, leading to large-scale protests and school cancellations.
12. snowball's chance in hell - extremely unlikely or impossible. Let's face it, we have a snowball's chance in hell of getting through security in time for our flight.
13. to be snowed in - unable to leave because of a large accumulation of snowfall. We were snowed in for a week because the city didn't have proper equipment to clear the roads.
14. tip of the iceberg - a small part of a problem or situation that is known or visible while the remaining, much larger part of of the problem is unknown or not seen. Customer complaints are just the tip of the iceberg. They reflect underlying problems with management at all levels of the company.
15. to walk (or skate) on thin ice - doing something risky that could lead to disaster or unpleasant consequences. You're skating on thin ice, Buddy. One more note home from school, and you're grounded for a week.
16. when hell freezes over - never. I'll apologize when hell freezes over.